Spinal Degeneration Myths and Facts

Spinal degeneration is a colloquial term for the typical aging processes which affect the vertebral column, including
degenerative disc disease
and
arthritis in the spine. It is difficult to say which symptoms, if any, really come from
normal degeneration of the spinal structures, since so many people
(almost all of us) demonstrate the physical signs, yet do not
experience any significant or lasting pain.

However, there are many care providers in the medical professions who use typical degeneration as a
scapegoat
on which to blame
unexplained back pain,
often despite any evidence of a pathological process.

This narrative propagates vital truths about spinal aging that are certainly not part of mainstream medical treatment for back or neck pain.

Symptoms of Spinal Degeneration

As previously mentioned, typical degeneration should not enact any
particular symptoms. Pain is not inherent to spinal aging and most
people will not demonstrate ill effects from these processes. However, what about patients who demonstrate extreme and atypical degeneration in regions of the spine? In some cases, these conditions may also be asymptomatic.
However, in other cases, some patients may endure discomfort and/or
possible neurological dysfunction. Some patients may suffer abnormal
degenerative conditions which may cause:

Pain in the back, neck or limbs

Muscle
tingling,
numbness
or
weakness

Restricted range of motion

Symptomatic relief with certain movements or positions

Unfortunately, these are the same symptoms which can also be
generated by a variety of other structural causative processes in the
spine, in the surrounding musculature and in other areas of the anatomy.

These can also be symptoms generated completely by nonstructural
causations, such as regional ischemia or disease processes. Therefore,
tracing symptoms to spinal deterioration may be difficult to do even in
the worst cases of seemingly problematic spinal issues.

Spinal Degeneration Verdict

There is a good chance that you have significant degeneration in
parts of your spine. A high percentage of the adult population has
drastic degeneration in the area of L4, L5 and S1. Many of us also have
moderate degeneration from C5 to T1. In fact, it is virtually
universal for adults to have at least one significant region of
degeneration somewhere in the backbone.

It is absolutely crucial to know that spinal degeneration will
continue throughout life. The elderly have it worse than the middle
aged demographic, but seniors also have far fewer chronic back pain
complaints. There are some structural explanations for this to occur. In fact, I detail some of them in my disc degeneration article.

If degeneration itself was responsible for pain, we would see an
increase in the number of complaints, and the severity of each
complaint, as people got progressively older. However, what we find is
exactly the opposite. After age 60, the incidence of chronic back ache
decreases sharply and the average intensity of symptoms in patients who
do have back pain is also decreased. This makes no sense from the
Cartesian point of view, but makes perfect sense from the mindbody point
of view.

It just goes to prove that during the ages of responsibility,
chronic pain is likely to be the result of huge stresses placed on the
patient. After the burden of responsibility is lifted at a given stage
of life, stress is reduced and pain diminishes. This is a truth that
doctors must learn to appreciate, instead of simply looking for the
signs of spinal degeneration and using these as crutches to explain
otherwise idiopathic symptoms.